


Fifty/Fifty

by bironic, Dee_Laundry



Series: vids by bironic [69]
Category: Actor RPF, Multi-Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Charity Auctions, Clothing, Constructed Reality, Domestic, Embedded Video, Exes, Family, Fanvids, Fashion & Couture, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Happy Ending, Headcanon, Humor, LGBTQ Themes, Mutual Pining, New York City, Screenplay/Script Format, Video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bironic/pseuds/bironic, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dee_Laundry/pseuds/Dee_Laundry
Summary: Since I was a young boy, I wanted to make men's clothes.
Series: vids by bironic [69]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/67230
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20
Collections: Banned Together Bingo 2020, Fandom Trumps Hate 2017, Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	1. Opening Credits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dee_Laundry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dee_Laundry/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Approximately 500 million years ago, Dee Laundry won a vid from me in the [FandomTrumpsHate ](https://fandomtrumpshate.tumblr.com/) charity auction. We decided to make a trailer for a TV show she's been spinning out in her head, in which Martin Freeman and Robert Sean Leonard play exes and business partners who run a fashion design company in Manhattan that specializes in bespoke clothing for people no taller than Martin Freeman. :) Relationship and other entanglements ensue, and many outfits are made. Check out Dee's entire plan in chapters 2 and 3, formatted like a real TV pitch.
> 
> \--bironic
> 
>  **Music:** "NaNaNa" by Royal Crescent Mob (edited)  
>  **Warnings:** Shaky cam, cameras flashing, split screen

[Watch on Vimeo](https://vimeo.com/498400470)

**Note:** This vid supported Planned Parenthood.


	2. One-Page Pitch

**Contact:**

Dee Laundry, Showrunner  
[deelaundry@yahoo.com](mailto:deelaundry@yahoo.com)  
AO3: dee_laundry; Twitter: deelaundry; Tumblr: deelaundry

**Production:**

Editor and Executive Producer: Bironic; Produced by Fandom Trumps Hate

***** Writing positions still open! Contact Showrunner *****

**Title:**

Fifty/Fifty

**Logline:**

In New York City, two men who co-founded a successful fashion design firm learn to balance conflicting needs as they re-define their relationship and what success means - in fashion and in life. 

**Opening credits/Sizzle reel:**

[Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28655187/chapters/70243674)

**Genre & format:**

Half-hour comedy/drama; three seasons of eight episodes each

**Tropes:**

Mutual pining; friends to lovers; exes; (exes who are friends) to lovers; fluff; humor; family; LGBTQ themes; happy ending; characters of color; workplace; domestic; flashbacks; parenthood; marriage; creative solutions to life problems

**Short synopsis:**

Together Paul and Charlie have achieved their mutual dream: to bring gorgeous new clothing into the world. Charlie’s next dream is not shared by Paul, which is why they are exes. They’re still fifty-fifty partners, still friends, and still in love with each other, just with incompatible life goals. They’ll need all their creativity to figure out how to have it all **and** each other.  
  
Season 1 establishes the workplace of Maffer Raleigh and its ensemble, and explores Paul and Charlie’s current and past relationship. In Season 2, Charlie and Paul go out to get what they each want, while in Season 3 Paul and Charlie figure out how to get what they want together.

**Additional information:**

Dee Laundry has been writing and producing since 2006. Hits include “This Is an Essay,” “I’ll See It Through (The Texas Two-Step Mix),” “My Fathers’ Son,” and “Goes the Neighborhood.” Awards: [Housefic Hall of Fame](https://housefic-meta.livejournal.com/87779.html), three times, for “Locked Up and Set Free” (fourth highest rated overall), “My Fathers’ Son,” and “Arureos (Greek for Rat).”  
  
She is thrilled to be joined by Executive Producer bironic who has produced the mega-hits "Starships" and "The Greatest."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm serious about writers (and artists) for this show being welcome. If you have ideas for this universe, let's collaborate! Episodes, prequels, sequels, artwork, meta, episode critiques, memes, AUs, additional background for any of the characters, bullet lists of thoughts, Tumblr posts, tweets ... if you can create it for a TV series, I'd love to see it. <3
> 
> \--Dee Laundry
> 
> (Posted to BTB 2020, prompt "Equality")


	3. Show Bible

**Logline:**

In New York City, two men who co-founded a successful fashion design firm learn to balance conflicting needs as they re-define their relationship and what success means - in fashion and in life.

**Main characters:**

  * **Paul Maffer** , Designer and co-founder, Maffer Raleigh, which is a successful fashion design company in New York City. He is the head or chief designer but prefers his title to be just “Designer.” Paul grew up in England as an only child. His parents died when he was 16, and a friend’s family unofficially adopted him. He moved to the US at age 18 for design school/university. He has since become a US citizen (dual citizenship). Paul is White, early 40s, outgoing, confident, creative, and a huge flirt with women. Played by: Martin Freeman
  * **“Charlie,” Charles Tulane Raleigh V** , CFO/COO and co-founder, Maffer Raleigh. He has been enamored with men's fashion design since an early age, with absolutely no artistic talent himself but fortunately a head for business. He is indeed “The Fifth”; his family has been in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area for centuries; and he has felt stifled by all their expectations. His theme song is NaNaNa by Royal Crescent Mob.[a] Charlie is White, age 40 at the show’s first episode, bookish, quiet, wry, and gay. Played by: Robert Sean Leonard
  * **_Paul and Charlie’s relationship_** is almost another character in the show. They have known each other and been close friends for two decades. They both have been passionate about designing gorgeous, high-quality fashion, particularly for men, since they were children. They were delighted to find that they had complementary skills and agreed from the beginning that everything would be fifty-fifty. When opinions differ they definitely will argue but will always come to the compromise that’s in the best long-term interest of Maffer Raleigh. 
    * We learn in episode one that Charlie and Paul are co-founders and close friends; we find out in episode three that they are also exes. They loved each other deeply and had expected to spend their lives together, but when their personal goals turned out to be incompatible, they realized they couldn’t remain a couple.
  * **Kale** (pronounced KAA-leh) **Kealoha** , recently hired Accounting Director. Kale is warm, happy, and friendly; he also pretty much only talks about finance. He likes fashion okay but is super nerdy in his love for numbers. Kale is native Hawaiian; his first name means “Man” and his last name means “Love.” Played by: Jason Momoa
  * **Sheryl Sato** , Talent Officer. Sheryl is a very accomplished executive, in charge of finding, retaining, and occasionally discharging talent for Maffer Raleigh. She also offers nuanced insights about the industry, markets, and business in general. If there was a “Number Two” at Maffer Raleigh under Paul & Charlie, Sheryl would be it. She is Black, straight, and very happily married (to a Japanese man). Played by: Angelica Ross
  * **“The Rival,”** head of an accessible clothing design firm, female, wheelchair user. She and Paul kept getting lumped together at industry events as "specialty clothing" designers and that pissed them off something fierce. So now they are battling as to who can have the largest possible customer base. Played by: Ali Stroker
  * **Laura-Lynn Doriden** , model in her mid-50s who has been with Maffer Raleigh since its founding. Height is 5’2”; any race.
  * **“J.B.,”** early 20s, female, journalist wannabe, straight, any race. She is doing a profile on Paul to try to get a position with a magazine. She got this opportunity because she is the grandchild of a close friend of Paul’s “adoptive mother” but she has no interest in fashion and did no background research; she wants to be a journalist but she’s not actually good at it. She will appear for a few minutes each episode, asking questions of Paul and occasionally Charlie or others, as a way to provide bits of exposition. She only appears in Season 1.
  * Various female and male models all 5’6” or shorter (any race). The ones who'd like to catch Paul's eye (any race) have blond hair, whether natural, dyed, or wig.
  * Guest stars appear as themselves in many of the episodes.



**_Maffer Raleigh Company Information:_ **

  * Maffer Raleigh designs for women heights 4’10” to 5’4” and men heights 5’4” to 5’9” 
    * Men’s Line: BANTAM
    * Women’s Line: Courtly
    * Teens’ Line (girls/boys/any gender): LitLoG
  * For legal and tax purposes, Maffer Raleigh is co-owned and co-led by Paul Maffer and Charles Tulane Raleigh V. Legal representation by Kenneth O'Dwyer and Associates.



**Settings:**

  * The main and design office of Maffer Raleigh, located in the Garment District in New York City (design studio, Paul’s office, Charlie’s office, Sheryl’s office, conference rooms, breakroom, lobby)
  * Paul’s apartment, Manhattan
  * Fashion show location(s)
  * Beginning in Season 2: Bolivia and Peru (airplane, hotel rooms, etc.); house in the suburbs of NYC; hospital; Sheryl’s apartment
  * Beginning in Season 3: Charlie’s apartment, courtroom



**Historical timeline:**

  * When the show starts, Charlie is age 40 (Paul is a couple of years older)
  * Age 21: Charlie in college in New Jersey, meets Paul at Charlie's 21st birthday party 
    * Paul tells Charlie that because he has a British passport, he could drink legally from age 18; this is a lie but Charlie believes it
    * Within three months they are best friends and planning to be business partners
  * Age 22: Charlie graduates from college with a B.S.B.A. (Bachelor of Science in Business Administration) in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Charlie and Paul open their first design company.
  * Age 22: Paul’s student visa runs out. Charlie says, “I’d marry you to help you stay if I could.” Paul gets employment to keep his visa and starts citizenship process. As Charlie is also working full-time, they have to close their first design company.
  * Age 23: Paul starts dating “Paul’s ex” (played by Amanda Abbington).
  * Age 24: Paul and Charlie open Maffer Raleigh. Paul quits his day job.
  * Age 25: Charlie breaks up with the man he’s been dating for five years (always referred to after as “Charlie’s ex”; played by Ethan Hawke)
  * Age 26: Charlie quits his day job.
  * Age 27: Paul breaks up with “Paul’s ex.”
  * Age 29: Charlie and Paul start their romantic relationship.
  * Age 31: Same-sex marriage is legal in New York; Charlie and Paul decide they don’t need it.
  * Age 38: They start the process for adoption, then end it.
  * Age 39: Charlie and Paul end their romantic relationship.
  * Age 40: Show starts



**Show / season outlook:**

  * Three seasons of eight episodes each 
    * Season 1: Paul and Charlie are partners.
    * Season 2: Charlie and Paul go out to get what they each want.
    * Season 3: Paul and Charlie figure out how to get what they want together.
  * Half-hour comedy/drama



**_Season 1: Paul and Charlie are partners._ **

Episode 1: Partners. 

Introduction to Maffer Raleigh, successful fashion design firm in New York City. Paul and Charlie are co-founders and close friends, although a bit on the confrontational, arguing side. Paul is outgoing, confident, creative, a flirt with women. Charlie is bookish, quiet, wry, and gay. 

  * Timeframe: Late April/Early May
  * Paul teases Charlie about the recent hire of an incredibly good-looking guy as Accounting Director; part of the humor comes from the fact that Kale pretty much only talks about finance. Sheryl is annoyed that anyone could imply she’d have a reason other than pure talent to bring someone in.
  * They’re finishing the Met Gala outfits for two celebrity clients: Elliot Page (as himself) and Kevin Hart (as himself).
  * A journalist wannabe who everyone calls “J.B.” is introduced; she is doing a profile on Paul to try to get a position with a magazine.
  * J.B.: “Is it true you sleep with all your female models?” Paul: “Of course it isn’t true. Some of our models are lesbians.” 



Episode 2: Rivals. 

We meet Paul’s rival. Today’s beef is about Paul “stealing” models from her but we hear about their history and basis of competition. 

  * It’s explained, in case viewers didn’t notice in the first episode, that Maffer Raleigh designs for women heights 4’10” to 5’4” and men heights 5’4” to 5’9”.
  * Paul is dating five different women and can’t fully tell them apart. (They know he’s dating all of them.)
  * Sheryl asks Charlie and Laura-Lynn to sit in on auditions for new models, and Charlie is surprisingly mean.
  * Last scene of the episode: J.B.: “What’s it like, being straight in a field so dominated by gay men?” Paul: “I wouldn’t know.”



Episode 3: Founders. 

Charlie talks about his childhood dreams and founding the company with Paul. Kale talks about his childhood dream: accounting! 

  * We find out Paul and Charlie were a couple as Sheryl and Charlie are talking with a model who’s about to go on her first date with Paul. 
    * Sheryl: Hey, Charlie. Therese is going out on her first date with Paul tonight and she’s feeling nervous about it. I thought maybe you could give her some pointers, you know, share some of your moves.
    * Charlie: My moves? I have exactly three moves, she doesn’t have the anatomy for any of them, and Paul would recognize them as mine, anyway, which would no doubt kill the mood. *looking at Therese* You’re blond, you’re gorgeous, and you have breasts. With Paul, that’s all the moves you’ll need.
    * Therese: You and Paul?
    * Charlie: Nothing to worry about, though. We broke up like a year ago; we’re just friends now. Water under the bridge.
    * Therese: I didn’t think -
    * Charlie: Nobody does. And they’re mostly right, because he’s mostly straight.
    * Therese: Were you two together long?
    * Charlie: Not at all. Ten years.
    * Therese: That seems like a long time to me.
    * Charlie: *to Sheryl* Well, I guess it would, considering it’s half her lifetime.
    * Sheryl: Shush.
    * Therese: Why did the two of you break up?
    * Charlie: We had different life goals. I wanted to get a house with a yard, and a dog, and look into adopting a kid or two. Paul wanted to date blonde supermodels.
  * Guest star B.D. Wong (as himself) definitely did **not** want pajamas. Something must be done.
  * Charlie tries clubbing to meet guys and hates it.
  * The teen line adds ‘any gender’ clothing.
  * J.B. learns what the term pansexual means. Paul: “Charlie’s attracted to men. I’m attracted to gorgeous.”



Episode 4: Exes.

Sheryl and Laura-Lynn talk to J.B. about the history of the company, and what they know of the history of Paul and Charlie’s relationship. This is layered with a Paul and Charlie discussion of the history of their relationship, and the two versions are amusingly different. 

  * The “Vest, Pants, and Braces” anecdote: Charlie told Paul about a picture of himself from his teen years, wearing vest, pants, and braces, which Paul as a British person took to mean a t-shirt, underwear, and suspenders (British phrase would have been “wearing waistcoat and trousers, and having braces on his teeth”). They commissioned a drawing of how Paul had envisioned Charlie looking.
  * In a flashback, we see Paul and Charlie in what was their, and is now Paul's, apartment. The apartment is stylish but comfortable and lived-in, not minimalistic but not fussy either. There's a sewing corner, with a male and a female dress form and a "bookcase" of different fabrics, and there's a music corner with floor-to-ceiling vinyl albums and a drum set. Paul plays the drums, which comes up throughout the series.
  * Flashback to getting Danny DeVito (as himself) ready for a movie premiere in 2007 [FN: Martin and Danny were in the 2007 film The Good Night together.]
  * Flashback to Paul sitting in chair in adoption office (Charlie is not there) being asked happily by clerk, “And why do you want to adopt a child?” Paul is silent; we see realization spread across his face. He quietly says, “Excuse me,” and then leaves the room.
  * Final scene is with Paul and Charlie talking about why they broke up. 
    * Paul: Stop telling people I’m shallow! How do you not get this, after all this time? The life I want to lead is just as valid as the one you want.
    * Charlie: You’re not Jack Nicholson. The playboy bit’s going to get pathetic after a while.
    * Paul: That’s not it! It’s not about dating lots of people; it’s not about sleeping around. It’s about being able to go to the goddamn movies when I feel like it. It’s about being able to stay up until three and sleep until noon, or go away for the weekend on a whim, or immerse myself completely in a new hobby. You want to have dinner at five, and wipe noses, and put band-aids on boo-boos, and I just don’t, Charlie.



Episode 5: Coworkers.

Sheryl is very good at her job. She manages the many different personalities around her without ever getting drawn into other people’s problems. She hires a very hot (meaning both good looking and popular) trans male model.

  * The Rival has hired away several support staff; Sheryl ropes J.B. into helping her investigate.
  * Charlie notices they’re having a lot of turnover for their receptionist position. Charlie: “Why is there a different receptionist every week?” Sheryl: “I have a system.” (There is indeed a new receptionist every single episode from then on, some of whom show up in different episodes as models, but the viewers never learn what Sheryl’s system is.)
  * No one can figure out how Sheryl hired Chrissy Teigen (as herself) as Maffer Raleigh’s social media manager. Charlie is a little flustered at having to supervise Chrissy Teigen.
  * Charlie tries Meetup to meet guys and hates it.
  * Kale looks tired. Paul thinks he must be partying; Charlie thinks he must be sick. It turns out Kale has been studying for yet another advanced accounting certification.



Episode 6: Allies.

Paul and Charlie hook up. The hook-up is great; the aftermath doesn’t go well. 

  * The new trans male model points out that Paul designs for cis men, not trans. Paul has Sheryl recruit a trans male designer to help him create for trans men; the designer is happy to do it but wants to design for all the lines. (Note: Designs for trans men are given a designation on the sizing, not a separate line.)
  * Charlie tries blind dates to meet guys and hates it.
  * You-Tubers Aaron Marino (as himself; men’s lifestyle) and Johnny Thai (as himself; young men’s fashion) have shown up to meet with Chrissy, but Chrissy doesn’t live in New York. As the receptionist of the day tracks down Chrissy, Kale is left to entertain the two. They don’t like numbers as much as he does.



Episode 7: Teammates.

Time for New York Fashion Week! The Rival features prominently. As does an ex of Paul’s played by Amanda Abbington.

  * Timeframe: September
  * Guest stars from the design world playing themselves.
  * Charlie tries Grindr to meet guys and hates it.
  * J.B. gets more scoop from Paul’s ex. Who later turns out to have been lying. (Not maliciously, just as a way to tease Paul.)



Episode 8: Family.

J.B. is invited to Paul and Charlie’s annual Thanksgiving family dinner.

  * Timeframe: Late November
  * There are well over 20 adults in Paul’s apartment when J.B. arrives. Charlie greets her at the door looking very happy and holding a baby/toddler. J.B. “I thought you were an introvert.” Charlie: “I am. I’ll be exhausted tomorrow but it’s different when it’s family.”
  * Longing looks by Charlie and by Paul, at different times, throughout the episode. They both miss being a couple.
  * Every person J.B. asks, “How do you know Paul?” says, “I met him through Charlie”; every person she asks, “How do you know Charlie?” says, “I met him through Paul.”
  * Several people use “shook hands” as a euphemism for hooking up. Then the first person who actually answers about meeting Paul says, “It’s a funny story; I shook his hand in church.” J.B. says, “Oh like in the bathroom.” “No,” says the person, looking at J.B. like she’s weird, “in the pews where you’re supposed to shake hands.”
  * Then there are all the ex partners, including Charlie’s lab partner from chemistry in college and Paul’s squash partner from a rec league.
  * Guest star Kristen Stewart (as herself) is one of the guests, with girlfriend Dylan Meyer (as herself).
  * Every time J.B. sees Charlie he’s holding a different baby/toddler.
  * During the party J.B. finds Paul making out with a beautiful woman, who J.B. is sure is married to another woman. The wife then walks up on them and is flustered. Wife goes to the kitchen to Charlie (J.B. follows) who consoles her. It turns out wife was flustered because she gets too turned on by Paul and her wife together to watch, and everyone knows this. The two wives are poly.
  * Eventually J.B. realizes neither Paul nor Charlie is related to anyone in the room. This is their found family/family by choice.



**_Season 2: Charlie and Paul go out to get what they each want._ **

Episode 1: Lovers. 

Charlie is dating a woman and no one understands why.

  * Timeframe: January
  * Paul and Kale bond over motorcycles.
  * Dressing Daniel Radcliffe (as himself) and Toby Jones (as himself) for BAFTAs.
  * Paul confronts/questions Charlie about dating a woman. Charlie: “You’re pan; I can be bi.” Paul: “You can be. You just aren’t. I tried enough times to get you into het porn to know for sure.”



Episode 2: Classmates.

Charlie makes the office take Spanish lessons together.

  * Timeframe: Late January
  * Paul picks up Spanish really quickly.
  * Salma Hayek guest stars as the instructor. Paul is professional in the classroom, but he definitely hooks up with her.
  * Charlie’s stated reason for arranging Spanish classes: Maffer Raleigh is popular in Bolivia (average male height 5’3”) and Peru (5’4&1/2”), and they’ll expand there soon.
  * Charlie’s real reason: The woman he’s dating, Marquita Martinez, is Puerto Rican.
  * Marquita is also now visibly pregnant (15 weeks at end of January; due date July 24), which turns out to be why he started dating her. Charlie confirms he intends to keep dating her and be the baby’s father although he wasn’t there for conception.



Episode 3: Companions.

Paul and Charlie travel together to South America to meet clients and scout possible office locations in Bolivia and Peru.

  * Timing: February or March
  * At one point, Charlie’s not-so-great Spanish gets them into a weird situation; Paul’s good at Spanish but still not fluent; Charlie calls Marquita to speak Spanish for them. 
    * There’s at least one misunderstanding of Puerto Rican slang vs. Peruvian or Bolivian slang, but Marquita does save the day.
  * There are multiple Zoom calls with the office back in NYC.
  * The trip is truly about business.
  * However: Paul and Charlie almost hook up, but they don’t.



Episode 4: Peers. 

Paul’s British family descends on NYC and the Maffer Raleigh office.

  * Timing: April
  * This is the family that took him in after his parents died. They are played by all the actors that played Sherlock’s family on Sherlock BBC: Wanda Ventham, Timothy Carlton, Mark Gatiss, and Sian Brooke, plus Rupert Graves as Mark’s fiancé. Paul’s friend is the middle sibling in the family (who would be played by Benedict Cumberbatch), but although he’s referenced, he never appears.
  * They are all very huggy people, which surprises Charlie, although Kale loves it. Charlie gets double hugs when they hear (from Sheryl) that Charlie’s girlfriend is pregnant. Wanda: “You should marry her! My older boy’s engaged, aren’t you?” Mark: “Yes, Mummy, although not for that reason.”
  * Paul and Timothy talk “sport,” particularly cricket, and no one in the office understands them.



Episode 5: Cousins. 

All about Charlie and his birth family’s expectations. What it means that he is “The Fifth” and why his kid won’t be “The Sixth.” Meryl Streep plays Charlie’s mom.[1]

  * Timeframe: May
  * Charlie and Paul used to be “kissing cousins”; they’re eighth cousins.
  * A trip to the Alps to ski has left Paul with a really distinctive sunburn. Sheryl: “Did you ski shirtless?” Paul: “I had a shirt! It just had a few buttons open.”
  * Charlie really wants tickets to the Tony Awards in June.
  * Dressing guest stars Kristin Chenoweth (as herself) and Anna Kendrick (as herself) for the Tonys.



Episode 6: Contacts. 

Paul finds out Kale is dating the assistant to Paul’s idol (Tim Gunn).

  * Timeframe: June
  * Charlie tries switching away from glasses and people keep thinking he’s stoned.



Episode 7: Accomplices.

Many shenanigans occur at the hospital where Charlie’s girlfriend Marquita is in labor.

  * Timeframe: Mid-July



Episode 8: Cohabitants.

Charlie, exhausted splitting his time between the office in Manhattan, his apartment in Brooklyn, and his girlfriend’s house in the suburbs, moves in with Sheryl, who lives in the same building as Maffer Raleigh’s office.

Timeframe: Last week in August

  * This is not the optimal solution he thought it would be.
  * Sheryl’s husband is Japanese, played by Nick Sakai.
  * Charlie and Paul agree that Charlie will cut his schedule down to half-time, working remotely from the suburbs, and promote Kale to CFO.
  * Marquita is thrilled to have Charlie move in! Especially since it’s now six weeks post-partum and she & her recurring hookup can start having sex again.
  * Marquita always knew Charlie was gay, but she also knew he’d make a wonderful dad. He’s on the birth certificate as father and that’s it as far as she’s concerned.



**_Season 3: Paul and Charlie figure out how to get what they want together._ **

Episode 1: Neighbors.

Charlie has moved to Manhattan, in the same building as Paul (a few blocks from the office). He spends Monday to Wednesday in NYC, Thursday to Sunday in the suburbs with Marquita and the baby.

  * Timeframe: October
  * Charlie is back to full time at work, in the office Mon-Wed, remote Thurs-Fri
  * Kale: “I’m still CFO, right?” Yes, he is. Charlie is COO.



Episode 2: Buddies.

Kale’s surfing buddy Chris (played by Joe Flanigan) shows up for a two-episode arc.

  * Timeframe: November
  * Chris is also Kale’s ex-partner. Charlie can’t figure out which definition of ‘partner’ that is and it drives him a bit crazy.
  * Sheryl convinces Paul to try Best Buddies, an organization that matches people with intellectual/developmental disabilities with those without, to build friendships. Paul’s assigned buddy is angry and rude; Paul adores her.



Episode 3: Mutuals.

Paul finds out the online role-play partner he’s had for months is The Rival.

  * Timeframe: November
  * Chris is agender and uses both they/them and he/him pronouns. “He’s a dude but not a guy,” Kale says at one point.
  * Charlie wants to ask Chris out but offers them a job instead. They turn it down, as they live in California.
  * Chrissy Tiegen (as herself) asks Tony Choi (as himself) to help her re-think Maffer Raleigh’s digital strategy. Nobody cares who’s in Charlie’s “circle” on Dreamwidth.



Episode 4: BFFs.

The teen line, LitLoG, gets a wake-up call and then a re-vamp.

  * Timeframe: Early December
  * After seeing a precipitous drop in sales in the teen line, Charlie hires a market research firm to conduct a survey and focus groups with teenagers. Amandla Stenberg plays one of the teens. The Lead Researcher (played by Amy Poehler) doesn’t seem to have ever met anyone under the age of 30 in real-life, but Maffer Raleigh gets some good insights anyway.
  * Paul shares photos from this year’s Thanksgiving dinner – SO MANY LONGING LOOKS but Paul can’t see it
  * Sheryl fangirls all over Seth Green (as himself) when he arrives to discuss clothing for future events.



Episode 5: Co-defendants. 

Maffer Raleigh is sued for copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property, so Paul and Charlie have to go to court.

  * They're innocent, of course; it was all a weird, convoluted misunderstanding.
  * Someone makes a joke about “co-defendants” sounding a lot like “co-dependents.”
  * Charlie worries he could have his child taken away; his personal lawyer (played by Andre Braugher) assures him he’s on solid ground.



Episode 6: Confidantes.

Charlie admits to Paul for the first time that he’s not really dating Marquita any more.

  * Charlie stays in the guest room at Marquita’s house every time he goes. He loves the baby but does miss having a weekend every once in a while.
  * Kale mentions the [menehune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menehune).
  * Sheryl is caught having drinks with The Rival. Paul and Charlie are afraid Sheryl’s getting recruited away, but it turns out that Sheryl and The Rival have been close friends for years and only talk about personal things, not business. It is strongly implied that Sheryl’s husband, in addition to being a wonderful human being, is hung like a horse.



Episode 7: Best Friends.

Paul and Charlie realize there is a solution: Fifty-fifty.

  * Charlie loves being a dad. Paul loves not being a dad.
  * Paul: “You and Marquita have fifty-fifty custody of the kid, right? What if the kid and I had fifty-fifty custody of you?” Charlie: “You want to be my half-time boyfriend?” Paul: “Full-time boyfriend, just with half physical custody of you. Move in with me again. I miss you so damn much.” Charlie: “But –” Paul: “I love you, Charlie; you’re the one I always want. Let’s be together again, be a couple, and when you’re not with your kid, be with me. Getting to spend half my time with you there is better than none.”
  * They agree to be a couple, live in Paul's apartment (when Charlie's not living with his kid), and work together on issues that arise.
  * Natalie Portman (as herself) and Rashida Jones (as herself) want matching outfits for their upcoming movie premiere. Paul is skeptical.



Episode 8: Spouses.

Paul and Charlie get married.

  * Timeframe: Late April/Early May
  * They’re finishing the Met Gala outfits for two celebrity clients: Elliot Page (as himself) and Kevin Hart (as himself), again.
  * Paul and Charlie decided to have a very small wedding at the courthouse on a Friday, followed by a week in London they’ve told people is business but is really their honeymoon.
  * Friday morning, Paul is in the office, working; Charlie is working remotely from the suburbs. Paul shows Sheryl and Kale the wedding suits he’s had made based on designs he and Charlie created together before they’d even founded Maffer Raleigh or been a couple.
  * Charlie has a disaster morning and Marquita is sick and the baby’s nanny is sick and none of the back-up babysitters are available. So Charlie has to bring the baby to the wedding, and trains/planes/automobiles to the courthouse, texting madly with Paul, and instead of arriving 30 minutes early to change and be ready, he shows up 10 minutes late, disheveled, in sweatpants and t-shirt with various stains on them, carrying the baby in his arms and dragging a three-wheeled stroller behind him.
  * Paul, wearing the wedding suit, thinks Charlie looks amazing. Their “very small” wedding has turned into all their friends and everyone from Maffer Raleigh, standing-room only in the ceremony room and overflow into the hall.
  * Charlie tries to get someone to hold the baby while he gets married; the first three people refuse. It ends up being Kale who holds the baby.
  * Quick, short ceremony but the kiss is very heartfelt and everyone cheers.
  * Charlie goes to change into the nice clothes, and it turns out, Paul is very sweet and cuddly with the baby but only when Charlie’s not looking. Paul really does not want to be a dad, but he’s happy to be Uncle Paul (uncles get to give the kids back to their parents guilt-free).
  * Paul and Charlie, and everyone, are escorted by a friend (who might or might not be Kristen Stewart) to a club they used to frequent together, which has agreed to open up that afternoon for a relaxed wedding reception. Dancing and drinks and balloons and bubbles!



[1] To complete the Joanne Woodward - Barbara Hershey - Susan Sarandon - Glenn Close circle of awesome actresses who’ve played RSL’s mom.

[a] NaNaNa by Royal Crescent Mob

I am from a little tiny town

About 20 minutes from Baton Rouge

Since I was a young boy

I’ve wanted to

Make men’s clothes

Now I’ve got my dream

I’ve been to New York

City; feel myself

Getting bigger like The Blob

This summer I’ll be in Paris, France

And I’m singin’

Nananana, nananana, nananana, nananana

Now I’ve got my cocktail and my peanuts

Flying up above over Baltimore

Looking down

On the freight yard

Listening to EU on my Walkman


End file.
